The Ivie Vine

Good Times!!

2009-08-18T15:52:00.001-07:00

So, I just wrote a huge entry and completely lost it when the internet just shut down. Aghh!! Maybe one day I will get the hang of this computer stuff! So, for anyone that still cares, here is a quick run-down of our summer:
At the beginning of June, we went with the "BEAR" fam up to Bear River Lodge and stayed in an awesome cabin that comfortably fit all 16 of us. We had a blast 4-wheeling, swimming and playing! At the beginning of July, Gav had his second set of tubes put in and an adnoidectomy because he was only hearing at 20% in one ear and 40% in the other. He is doing so much better since the surgery:-) We had a blast playing with my friend Karen and her family at the BYU gymnastics workout gym and then watching the 4th of July parade. Then we went to my big sis's house for a 4th of July BBQ and watched P.G.'s awesome fireworks! Cambria Marie Dobson was finally born on July 14th (3 and 1/2 weeks early), to my baby sis and her hubby, who have been waiting patiently for 6 years for her!! I went to girl's camp and had a blast with my girl's(I haven't been since I was a YW 13 years ago)! We went camping in A.F. canyon for our ward camp out and had alot of fun. Our little Maser Beam had his second birthday! Then we went on our family trip with my little bro Tito, in tow. We started in CA and drove up the coast through the Redwoods, then through the Oregon coast. Then by way of Astoria, we drove up the Washington coast to our ultimate destination, Copalis Beach!! We came home driving next to the beautiful columbia river. We had a little rough start with our van braking down the first day of our trip in Nowhere, NV, but, thanks to my awesome parents and big sis and her hubby, we were bailed out and ended up taking mom and dad's suburban the rest of the way, leaving our pour old van in Wells, NV for the next 10 days!! After that, the rest of the trip was amazing and so much fun!! We got home, went and picked up our van and towed it home and now we are looking for a new vehicle since John is riding his bike to work until we can find one:-) We have swam lot's, played lot's, and ate lot's:-) and now school starts today. Crazy!! (now that wasn't too bad)

Riding ATV's at the cabin

Gav having his surgeries / 4th of July festivities

BYU gymnastics practice room / Parade / Min's house

Beautiful Cambria / Mason and cousin Cam / Mason and cousin Ryker

Mas b-day / Stranded with 3 vehicles in Wells / T, Matt and John transferring luggage

The fam with Paul Bunion at the Trees of mystery / The kids in Westport, WA / Astoria, OR

In our fort on Copalis beach / Daddy and Mas w/ copalis rock / swimming in the freezing ocean

the boys becoming mermen / Our puzzle at the cabin / tide pools

(me and my OCD's, I stayed up until 3 in the morning to finish it)

Copalis rock / Copalis rock at low tide / we saw a bald eagle on top of Copalis rock

the view from our cabin on the beach / the cute shark store "Sharkey's" in Ocean Shores, WA / my cute little shark heads

Yes...I am a SLACKER!!

2009-02-25T18:27:00.000-08:00

grandma bear and the kids at Halloween. Kam at her friend and then fam b-day parties.

Me holding brand new Ryker Holtey. My cute kids in their Christmas Sunday outfits and our fam on Christmas morning

John and Mason working on the fire in the fireplace. Mas snuggling with his bear. Xander (my nephew) and Diesel the bull dog (my cousins baby)

Did I really say "more to come soon?" What I really meant was, "I'm a big fat slacker and even though this is almost 4 and 1/2 months later, I will try to make it good:-)" Thank you to those of you who have been faithfully checking on us. So here goes a day in the life of the Ivies. So much has happened since November when I wrote last. I don't know where to begin. My kids were really cute at halloween:-) Kam had a birthday! My sweet sweet princess is 7 going on 8 and has made the choice to be baptized into the LDS church this year! So exciting but crazy that I have a child old enough. I don't know where all the time went. I love Kam! She is such a smart, beautiful, thoughtful and kind little girl. Sometimes I am a little too hard on her and treat her like she is supposed to be 20 years old already. Christmas was fun! I love being with family and friends through the holidays and I didn't put on the average American holiday weight gain of 15 pounds this year! Always happy news! I tore some ligaments in my knee playing soccer on the 3rd of January. I thought I was okay enough to play again three weeks later, and tore my ACL and both miniscus(sp?) (knee cartilage) in my right knee and both muniscus(sp?) in my left knee. Kind of a huge bummer because on March 11th, I will become a member of "the elite bi-ACL reconstruction club," as the doctor likes to refer to it. My left ACL was reconstructed when I was 19 and now I will have a matching scar for my right knee. Meanwhile, I have been working on the NAEP study for the last couple of months, limping around with a brace on, going in to schools and testing 4th, 8th and 12th graders. Mason, as a result has become extremely clingy because it is so unusual for his mommy to be gone all the time. He will be much happier when this job is over and he can count on his mom to be around on a regular basis:-) Gavin is going to have tubes put in his ears again and an adnoidectomy in a couple of months when I have recooped from my surgery. Poor kid can't hear much these days and I feel like I am always yelling at him, or rather to him. He only hears at about 20%. Thankfully, it hasn't affected his speech or development yet and hopefully, we can get it fixed soon. By the way, Gav is starting Kindergarten this year too!! He is very excited! Hmmm...what else? John has been awesome through these past couple of months, helping take and pick up the kids from places and coming home for his lunches so he can be there with the boys until I get home. He has been working hard at his job, even earning promotions. All this while recooping from Strep and whatever other ailments it seems like he tends to attract. He is training for the SLC half marathon in April. I am so proud of him. I just don't like long distance running. I have to be doing something while I am running, like playing soccer:-) Anyway, he is working hard to be able to run with his buddies from work in April. "What a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man.":-) He probably gets to go to Thailand in May for work too. That is very exciting for him. I got to go to Wicked in LA this past December! It was so good and I can't wait to go again. My sis had another baby boy in December also. It is so exciting to see our family growing! I can't think of much else to write at the moment, but I am sure there is more. I will blog as it comes to me, when I find the time. Hopefully, sometime before the next 4 months, and maybe then it won't be a huge novel.:-) Above are some pictures of my cute fam to hold you over until next time!

We Are Still Here!!

2008-11-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

I am writing to let any of our fans out there know, that we are still here. It has been a little busy around here but we are back and I have lot's of really cute Halloween pictures and Kam's birthday pics and stories to share. So. . . more to come soon! Until then, we hope all of you, our friends and fam, are doing well. We love you and thanks for being interested in what is going on in our lives!

Vacation in Florida!!

2008-09-19T21:01:00.001-07:00

We just got back from Florida a couple of days ago!! It was our family trip for the year. We had so much fun!! Here are a few of the pics from the trip. They got a little messed up when I downloaded them so they are kind of out of order. The picture above is Mason hanging out by Aunt Joan and Uncle Richard's pool.
John, Gavin, Mason and John's cousin Rick when we went to feed the turtles by the dock and look for manatees.

Kam and Gav at MGM (now called Hollywood Studios)
John, Kam and Gav in front of the Rockin' Roller Coaster (this was the only ride Gav couldn't go on because of height restrictions)
Kam and Gav locked in a cage with Zorg(?) from Toy Story.
Us in front of the Disney castle at Magic Kingdom
The kids in A Bug's Life 3-D at Animal Kingdom

Playing in Aunt Joan's pool. Kam is doing a flip into the pool and Gav is snorkling. They really got to be really good swimmers while we were there.

John looking pretty studly and way excited to get into the pool:-)

Kam, Aunt Joan, Grandma Ivie and Gav in the house.

When we landing in Florida, it got a little bumpy and Beamer didn't like it very much.
Kam was way excited to almost be there though!
Kamryn and Gavin at the beach.
Mason at the beach. He didn't like it at first but after we took him in the waves, we couldn't get him out.
Us at the beach! (I can't believe I am posting me in a bathing suit on this blog...aghhh)

What a good time!!

Happy Birthday Gav

2008-09-19T20:37:00.001-07:00

grandma and grandpa Bear gave Gav this Hulk suit. He loves dress ups!!
Gavin's new jeep! (This is my garage sale pride and joy moment. I got the jeep and the charger and everything for only 10 buckaroos) The kids have wanted one since Kam was little. Gav is almost too big for it now but he was way excited and Mason will be happy when he gets to have it:-)

Gavin had a birthday a couple of days ago (along with his uncle Matt and his cousins Jessie and Dallin)!! Since he is the big 5, I wanted to share 5 reasons why I love him!

Among other reasons:

1. He has a very tender heart. He looks out for his little brother and big sis. He is sweet to everyone (especially little kids) that he meets. It hurts his feelings when others aren't doing what they are supposed to.

2. He is a very good helper. When he is in the mood, which is most of the time, he will help me with odd jobs such as; taking out the garbage and putting a new liner in, making cookies or dinner, etc.

3. He gives great hugs. He is my little snuggle bug and is always so loving to me and to his family and friends.

4. He tries really hard to do what is right. When he makes a mistake, he is always very quick to say he is sorry. He recognizes when he is not doing what he is supposed to and then tries really hard to not do it anymore.

5. He knows the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints is true and he loves Jesus and Heavenly Father very much.

I Love You Brutus!! We are glad you are a part of our crazy fam!

gav's 1st day of Pre-K

2008-09-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

gav in front of school
before we left home (so handsome!)
In his class room

Gav just started his school this week, so to be fair, I am posting some of his first day pictures too!! (He turns 5 this month, so he just barely missed the deadline for Kindergarten). He is twice as big as everyone in his class. I hope he likes sports!!:-)

Fall is in the air!!

2008-09-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

I love fall and everything that comes with it! Football games, cooler temperature, beautiful colors, Kam and Gav's birthdays and especially the smell. I could smell fall in the air today and it was great! I am so excited for the babies that are going to be born this fall and winter. What a great time to be born! Fall has always been my favorite season and I just want to say, Welcome Fall!

1st day in 1st grade!

2008-08-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

What a poser!

Kam, in front of her door at school!

It was Kam's first day of school 2 days ago. She was a little nervous but comes home everyday saying she had the best day! She loves school lunch and having two recesses now instead of just one! I am proud of you sis!

One year old and a mouth full of teeth:-)

2008-08-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

So, my baby boy just turned one a couple of weeks ago. What a cute little stud!! He is always so happy and smiley. He makes everyone feel good because he acts like everyone is his best friend (including complete strangers). There are very few people he doesn't smile at. hahaha What makes his smile even cuter is his mouth full of teeth. He got his first two teeth when he was only 4 months old and has slowly gained more and more over the past year until he now has a whopping 8 teeth at a year old.

I just wanted to say happy birthday to my sweet, beautiful little man!! I love you buddy!

What are they really watching?!!

2008-05-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was shopping at the grocery store with Gav. We had been there a while and I decided to buy a Stoufer's frozen lasagna. As I was putting the lasagna in the cart, gavin comes over and says, "hey, that's stoupers!" I was a little surprised to see that he knew what it was that I was putting in the cart, so I said, "how do you know what this is?" and he said, "I saw it on commercial, so that's stoupers and its really good for the whole family!" I thought that was pretty cute but it made me very wary of what kids really do see on television, watching their favorite cartoon or show.

A couple of days later, Kamryn and I were grocery shopping and she informed me that the green produce bags are better to put your produce in because they "stay fresher longer in the green produce bags." I again asked her how she knew that, and she said because she saw it on a commercial. Well, at least they are seeing the useful commercials instead of the smut they could be seeing. I guess bottom line is, I really should be very aware of what my children are watching on the t.v. so they don't start informing me what lingerie will strap me in the best or anything worse.

Only In Utah

2008-05-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

We recently finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family!! (It took 1 and a half years reading 1 page most nights). We decided to celebrate by going bowling and getting ice cream. So, while we were purchasing our games and getting our shoes, Kamryn excitedly told the cahier, "We just finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family so now we get to go bowling and ice skating." Where else but in Utah would a young cashier reply, "Oh, you did? That is so awesome!"? I love living here in happy valley where people are proud of our family for having good values. I love living in a place where our children can feel comfortable sharing our exciting news with perfect strangers and then having the strangers be excited for them and know what the heck:-) they are talking about. We are truly blessed to live in such a wonderful state, city, nieghborhood, home.

Kamryn: Superstar

2008-04-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

Here is our beautiful Kamryn. My dear wonderful friend Erin is an amazing photographer and she took a bunch of pictures of my kids for John's birthday. Kamryn is on her website as one of her child models! You can check out her website at:

www.erinsummerill.com

She is great, and look how pretty Kam is!

2007-12-29T21:50:00.000-08:00

Finally Online

2007-12-29T21:46:00.000-08:00

I'm simply starting my family's new blog. I've never done anything like this before, but I think it's a good idea for anyone wanting to know what's going on in the John Ivie household. Hopefully we'll get pictures of the family up on the blog and keep a semi-regular journal of events that are taking place in our lives. For anyone who visits our blog, I hope you find some interesting and amusing things.